3G/mobile broadband industry news from the UMTS Forum
29 November 2010
Rohde & Schwarz and Icera have started working together on Rohde & Schwarz's LTE protocol conformance test programme to enable a swift LTE certification and deployment. The development of the comprehensive LTE test platform meets the industry’s need for thorough LTE device testing programs. Both Icera and Rohde & Schwarz supply multi-standard solutions that support multimode LTE, HSPA and GSM standards
Ericsson has been commissioned by EnergyAustralia to develop an LTE smart grid for Australia’s electricity supplier. According to the terms of the contract, Ericsson will design and integrate a multivendor wireless access network. It will provide equipment, software and services, and will leverage the Melbourne-based Ericsson Global LTE Competence Centre. The network will be rolled out across 150 sites in New South Wales. First trials of the LTE platform will start in 2011. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications based on LTE technology will allow two-way communication between electrical control devices, back-end systems and households.
Taiwanese vendor Acer has introduced a new smartphone in a tablet-like format. The Android-powered device features a 4.8-inch multi-touch widescreen, an 8-megapixel camera, complete with LED Flash. The smartphone provides high-speed connectivity using HSDPA, with peak downlink rates of up to 14.4 Mbps. It is also equipped with Clear.fi, Acer’s new cloud-based media sharing system that enables wireless storage, control, sharing and access to multimedia content.
Canada’s Bell Mobility has unveiled the Novatel Wireless U547 Turbo Stick USB modem, which enables peak download speeds of up to 42 Mbps, using HSPA+ Dual Carrier technology. Initially available in Toronto, the service will be expanded to more Canadian cities and towns during 2011. The Novatel Wireless U547 Turbo Stick is available for CA$49.95 on a three-year contract or for CA$199.95 without a contract. A CA$10 add-on feature is also available on all Mobile Internet pricing plans.
Swisscom has launched a new flat-rate mobile data package, branded NATEL data premium, enabling customers to benefit from the network upgrade to HSPA+ technology. The tariff costs CHF85 (US$85) per month tariff includes a data allowance of 5GB. Using Huawei’s HSPA+ USB modem E182E, users will have access to data download speeds of up to 21 Mbps. Swisscom has also introduced HSPA+ data tariffs for prepaid customers, with its NATEL easy offering.
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has launched new Flexi base station controller (BSC) that offers up to 80% reduction in energy consumption and a 40% increase in capacity over existing base station controllers. The new Flexi BSC also gives operators the ability to move to all-IP environment for communicating between the base station, base station controller and mobile switching centre with two new flexible and cost-efficient transport features, Packet Abis and A over IP.
Huawei Awarded the World's First Commercial Frame Contract Covering LTE TDD Technology in Poland
Aero2 has awarded Huawei a contract to deploy the Polish operator’s LTE TDD (Time Division Duplex) network. The Chinese vendor will supply its end-to-end LTE TDD/EPC (Evolved Packet Core) solution. According to Huawei, in recent LTE TDD lab trials with Aero2 in Poland, downlink throughput rate reached up to 100 Mbps. Aero2, which owns frequencies in the 900 MHz and 2.5 GHz bands, plans to launch commercial LTE services in early 2011.
Poland’s LTE operator Mobyland has unveiled the IPWireless LTE 1800 MHz USB modem. The device operates in 10 MHz bandwidths and may be later adjusted to work in 20 MHz bandwidths with a remote software update. It enables peak downlink rates of up to 73 Mbps and data upload of up to 25 Mbps. Mobyland launched its LTE network using 1800 MHz in Poland in September 2010.
Canada’s Mobilicity has inaugurated its HSPA+ network in Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa-Gatineau. The service is available with three unlimited plans and a CA$10 unlimited data add-on, making it possible to get unlimited talk, text and data for only CA$35 without a contract. The operator has also unveiled three new handsets: the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Android smartphone, the Motorola Spice Android 2.1 device and the LG Wink slider phone.
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